So.. Where are all the Piranha players??

[OBH]

Does anybody else almost never see them?? Or when they do, are rarely world beating players (no offense to any guys here i dont know about! :))

I've had the pleasure of racing with quite a few zoners now, and I cant recall a single one of you guys, or indeed anyone else, using Piranha.

I generally never went for the speed over agility kind of wipeout teams, but are icarus really that much better to warrent so many people using them over piranha and triakis?

Shame really, I think the 3rd piranha skin looks sweet.

[kanar]

hey Haydn,

My 2 cents, because I was a piranha pilot for pulse & tried to continue that career for hd... here, maybe you remember : http://www.wipeoutzone.com/forum/showpost.php?p=102330&postcount=38
But some times after, I realized that: http://www.wipeoutzone.com/forum/showpost.php?p=103691&postcount=48
I noticed a kind of "technical correction" on each track, by an average of 0.15(same racing line, brs-haven't tried to improve anulpha reverse-). What's my point? Piranha is reserved to experts, I mean you can't escape from the wall if your racing line isn't perfect. Well, that's for TT or SL of course, because online your big shield is a great advantage for sure. But you have to master the floaty fish before. It's more than practice at this point I think.

[Amorbis]

I was a Piranha pilot since Wip3out up until HD. I use Piranha in Pulse so upon buying HD I used them out of favouritism. I tried using different ships after I completed the campaign and found Icaras gave me the extra edge thanks to the increased thrust and handling. I do miss Piranha's shield though, I could really have done with it online sometimes.

I might see what I think of Piranha now that I've been an Icaras pilot for two months. You never know, I might go back! (or not :))

[Cerium]

I fly piranha pretty much full time -- except when I'm attempting that awful zone trophy (which, by the way, is incredibly difficult thanks to the goofy 100% handling that bloody zone ship has).

Sadly, most of the time I see someone else playing piranha online, they're also using pilot assist; so they generally don't do that well anyway...

[H3avyM3tal]

I started using Piranha more now, switching between it, Icaras and Ag. Managed to win some phantom tournaments, and to my surprise it is much easier to control than I imagined. So far I like it :)

[TreAtzTMA]

I've started using Piranha again lately, especially for Venom/Flash class races. Don't think I got the chops for faster races.

[Rapier Racer]

Who wants to use a Piranha when Icaras is sitting there? Its like the Harimau Assegai thing.

[OBH]

you look at the stats too much.
pirahna handles nothing like a heavier, longer, understearing icarus, and harimau acts ike an understeering assegai.

to each their own.

[rushin]

i was flying piranha and auricom on rapier and having lots of fun. But really struggled on phantom with either so for now have given up and gone for goteki and mirage mostly.

Hoping to change back one day - phantom no longer seems insanely fast but without high handling craft is still very unforgiving.

[Lightlord]

It might sound weird to say this but the Piranha does feel faster on top speed than the Icarus even if they show the same stats at times it doesn't feel like the Icarus is as fast although that 10 extra acceleration and handling at the sacrifice of shield does help it to stay close!

[Shinji16]

I've played Piranha only since 2097. Piranha for life!

I have just started doing online matches again in WOHD, so keep an eye out for Eldermatrix (my PSN handle).

[Cerbis]

Now, I don't have months of practice or experience with the Wipeout HD teams, so I'm not really qualified to make many comparisons with other craft.

However, I do know that the Piranha is very satisfying to fly, and has a certain kind of solidity I find myself missing when flying other, twitchier craft.
I've also discovered that it's incredibly demanding to fly at record-breaking speeds, especially taking around corners on narrow tracks :D But I try, more than anything, to fly the Piranha and become skilled with it.
There's just something about it! :g

See me online, and there's a great chance you'll see me in my beloved Piranha.

[Cerium]

Angry fish is angry. That is all.

[yeldar2097]

greenix knows all about my piranha ;)
sadly they kicked me out of the team after being an embarrassment, apparently i wasn't "lairy" enough...
in all honesty, i really like the piranha in HD, 3rd skin is awesome and i've got some pretty good times out of it (2.03 chenghou multiplayer (i was proud:)))

[Eloï]

I started practicing with the piranha, was quite good at it online as long the race wasn't too... hot ( i.e. mines and missiles everywhere )
I prefer it to Icaras, which seems way too weak for races... I managed at leat one perfect lap on every race with piranha, except chenghou, then I tried auricom. I think it can stand online better, thrust seems important, and piranha lacks it way too much.

Now that I'm training with Harimau, I feel so light lol

[Cerium]

thrust seems important, and piranha lacks it way too much.

Exactly. I love my Piranha, but it's simply not competitive and the lack of thrust is why. Sure, you can pull off some decent times if you (a) never touch a wall, (b) never get hit by a weapon and (c) aren't on a track which requires airbrakes (aka: not playing this game).

There's maybe one or two tracks which the maxed out top-speed comes in handy (Metropia and Anulpha Pass), but virtually every other track requires too much use of the airbrakes to keep up with other pilots at or above your skill level. Plus, the difference in top-speed isn't that great from ship to ship. Sure, it's noticeable given enough straight track, but the tracks in HD are short and bendy which immediately negate the biggest advantage the Piranha has.

I suppose the 90% shields are also nice... except for the fact BRs cost the same across all ships and wall scraping/ramming is far more damaging than any weapon, save for a direct plasma bolt.

Again, I love my fish, but it's advantages are geared towards tracks which don't exist in this game. Maybe if they added some of the long versions of the tracks from Fusion or a 2097 track or two, but definitely not with the Pure/Pulse track selection.

...that's my two cents, anyway.

[Sideshow]

Wait, BR's cost a percentage of shields rather than a set amount? Is that true? That would be annoying, I always assumed it was the latter.

[TearsToShreds]

I like using the fish every now and then. I don't force myself to use just one team and just drive whatever I feel like. I think I've set a few of my best records with the Piranha and noticed I couldn't beat them with any other craft, no matter how hard I tried. Maybe I was just having a bad day.

Also, its third livery = sex.

[yeldar2097]

BRs cost 15% shield no matter what you're flying.

had a great piranha session with cerium last night, top stuff mate!
got a pb on ubermall reverse as well :) in a piranha! :D
i guess it's all that added bite!

edit: it's a common misconception that this brick won't do corners; every so often it'll amaze you. no3 and no8 times on chenghou and ubermall reverse respectively (quite demanding on the corner front).
i don't mean to boast by any means. i'm just trying to illustrate that even an obese fish can go round corners with some aptitude. i'm giving people hope :)

[Cerium]

Also, its third livery = sex.

Agreed. Although, one of my friends asked if the sponsor was McDonalds.


it's a common misconception that this brick won't do corners; every so often it'll amaze you. no3 and no8 times on chenghou and ubermall reverse respectively (quite demanding on the corner front).
i don't mean to boast by any means. i'm just trying to illustrate that even an obese fish can go round corners with some aptitude. i'm giving people hope :)

There are some corners which are just killer due to the amount of airbraking required (Sol2 comes to mind) -- and that's where we start falling behind.

[subtotal]

the piranha is my fave ship but phantom was a complete nightmare at first and i am still avoiding reverse track rooms online,
if i'm too tired to concentrate i jump in the quirex or mirage

i dont like to fire at a fellow piranha either
you are right, there arent many about

[crawdad62]

Seems like I've seen a lot more lately. I agree that there aren't many but when WHD was first released I hardly ever saw anyone piloting one.Everyone was in an Assegai. Now there's usually at least one in a 8 player race if not more and not as many Assegai's.

[TheFrostE]

pirhana feels too heavy for me...but im very used to feisar :p. plus the shape and design of the ship is absolutely god awful

[Seraphim1982]

I'm not keen on the Pirahna, whilst getting the livery liberation trophy I had to fly it for a while and it just felt sluggish. I race almost exclusively in the Icarus ship and it is a rare thing for a Pirahna to finish ahead of me. I typically have more trouble from Mirage and other Icarus pilots.

[yeldar2097]

give cerium a race, i'm sure he'll put up a good fight ;)
thing is, i agree about it feeling sluggish, it feels like racing in flash with piranha. i quite like that sometimes; means you can just relax and still post some good times, even when they feel slow. i personally find it easier to pilot than the auricom but that may be because it's nice and pointy :)
i love my big fish :+

[Seraphim1982]

Lol I don't often fly above Flash as I don't get a lot of chance to play Wipeout and I can't keep my skills at Rapier or Phantom level without constant practise.

[yeldar2097]

well you'll get there eventually. i'm not very good at adapting so i can't fly below phantom at all otherwise i just end up making a huge mess of things when i go back to it.
versatility isn't my strong point ;)

[designer_79]

Since some days I fly exclusively Piranha now, that has some reasons:

- As mentioned , one can argue it's general design (personally, I love it's curves) but the 3rd skin is just awesome.

- Playing WO 2097 again, and as we know there it is the unlockable 'ubercraft', though, without weapons. :twisted

- I decided to compete in a eventual WO worldcup under Chinese flag , not the Swiss one, cause China is where i will spend the next years of my life. And you should know from the WO backstory, that Piranha is a Chinese brand :nod

- Related to the point above, no matter if for China or Switzerland, seems I would be the only competitor for either of them :frown:

- The whole challenge of flying a Piranha to the point of perfection seems very rewarding to me, not to mention it's the ultimate practice for the wicked 'Beat Zico' Trophy anyway. :+

- So you will defenitely see me flying Piranha in the online races from now on, Greetings to Cerium and Yeldar, hope we will meet on tracks and show them other racers Piranhas sharp teeth :)

[komatos]

Piranha's usually my preferred craft of choice, thanks to the supership unlockable in XL. It's been evened out/dumbed down ever since, but it's design and raw power (top speed) are second to none. Of course in modern Wipeout versions it's thrust has taken a serious hit. :(

Not sure if it'll be my long term WipeoutHD ship, but definitely will be the one I start with and earn all the loyalty points for first before moving onto other ships.